It’s pretty dynamic for Mötley to dive down so low in the verses and kind of creep around and then just explode in the choruses. To me, it sounds new, but it has its moments of sounding like what people would be used to, but it definitely has some new modern feeling happening. Musically, to me, it sounds like right now.

Yeah, Vince’s voice certainly does that because he has such a fucking distinctive sounding voice. It’s identifiable as Mötley Crüe, but circa 2024. What you hear when you hear it is where we are at right here and now. “What’s fucking blowing you guys’ skirts up these days?” Boom, this is it. This whole situation is begging for us to put out what we’re feeling, where we’re at, what we are doing. We always say, “You’re only as good as your last effort,” and we hadn’t done any new music in a while. Our fans need to feel this new energy.” It’s not something you can explain. During that process, we’re like, “Oh, man, boy, this sure would be different if it’s something we wrote from the ground up.” Nikki and I and John started coming up with some ideas, and we were like, “You know, we need to record this. We’re like “Fuck!” We’re rehearsing to go play shows with a bunch of music that we’ve all been playing for a while. We recorded because we were experiencing something that we haven’t experienced in a long time with John 5 and his fucking energy. We were playing in front of 200,000 people, and most people were tripping out going, “Who the fuck are these guys?”Īs “Dogs of War” was starting to take shape, what feelings did it give you? This is insane.” Nobody really knew who the hell we were. That’s what it was like, and I was just like, “Oh, my god. You look out at the ocean, and it just keeps going forever. A festival, yeah, but flying over that and then sitting down behind the drums and looking out at just dust, I couldn’t see where the crowd ended. TOMMY LEE: I can tell you, flying over 200,000 people in a helicopter, I think I’m 19, and I’m looking out the window, and literally I’m like, “Are you fucking kidding me? We’re playing there?” I had no idea what we were getting into. Festival in 1983 during the early Mötley Crüe years? What are your memories of playing the U.S. You’re headlining several festivals this year.

There is also no sign of his recent hand surgery, which he shared with his followers on Instagram. There isn’t enough evidence on Lee’s face to justify his 60-plus years. If there is skin visible, it is tattooed, including his triceps, where the ink has faded into tattoo blue. From a chain necklace, a medallion hangs over his black T-shirt, partially blocking the word “WEHO,” which is spelled with white outlines of bodies. In his right hand Lee clutches a blue lighter and, in his left, a cigarette. His blue headphones push his middle-parted hair forward so it forms curtains around his face. His eyes sparkle behind tinted, black-rimmed glasses. When Lee Zooms in to update SPIN on all things Mötley Crüe, he is amped, to say the least. Beginning in 2022, they played stadiums with Def Leppard as part of The Stadium Tour in North America, which extended to The World Tour in 2023. August of this year is the 35th anniversary of Dr. They have been in the throes of celebrating their 40th anniversary since 2021. In January 2024, they opened the virtual Crüeseum, “the world’s most notorious museum,” featuring memorabilia and personal items from the group. The song is another landmark in what has been a busy couple of years for Mötley Crüe. ( Single Art Courtesy of Big Machine Records) “Dogs of War” is a worthy addition to the Grammy-nominated, multi-platinum group’s 100 million-selling catalog.Īlso Read Slayer Reunion Highlights Louder Than Life Lineup Harder and heavier than they’ve historically been, “Dogs of War” breaks up the crunch and grind with stadium-ready, signature Crüe cries of “whoa-oh.” Vocalist Vince Neil sounds in rare form, maximizing on the studio’s capabilities and delivering a sing-along-ability that rivals that of 1989’s “Kickstart My Heart.” The video for “Dogs of War” plays like a Grand Theft Auto cutscene with the band experiencing countless destructive scenarios, including going to hell and to space, but returning resilient-not unlike real life.

Written by the Crüe’s primary songwriter and bassist, Nikki Sixx, Lee, and their new guitarist, the incomparable John 5, the song is classic Crüe with a 3.0 upgrade. “Dogs of War” is released today, April 26, along with a wholly CGI music video. Ahead of that, they are releasing their first new music since the additional songs they recorded for the soundtrack to their Netflix biopic, The Dirt, based on the Neil Strauss biography of the same name. Starting this May, Mötley Crüe hit the road, performing headlining slots at festivals such as Welcome to Rockville, Summerfest, Louder Than Life and Aftershock, as well as county fairs and their own arena-sized shows.

Time piece gentlemen